Purchase Order

This build provides high, consistent damage against all enemies, with enhanced strength against objectives and tanks. Not recommended if fighting mostly squishy enemy comps.

The last 2 items are situational choices. In this case, Titan's Bane provides incredible penetration against tanks, while Odysseus' Bow brings enhanced teamfight damage and high attack speed to increase Qin's passive procs. Silverbranch Bow is an alternative to O-Bow, if preferred.

As an alternative, you can rush Boots first, if you have major concerns about enemy mobility and strong early game gank potential.

You can build 2nd (and get Tabi first) if enemy mobility and early gank threat is high.

Devourer's Gauntlet

Item #2 (Choose One)
Notes Ninja Tabi is the standard choice, providing a good base of attack speed, as well as some helpful mana in the early game.

Warrior Tabi is a good alternative item when you plan to build plenty of attack speed in the remainder of the build. Can be great early if you plan to get Ichaival after, and want higher ability damage.

Ninja Tabi

Warrior Tabi

Item #2.5 (Optional Bridge)
Notes Ichaival is a great, optional bridge item due to the low cost and good 1v1 boxing functionality. At the point you're building this, you're also going to be investing more into Viper Shot, which is a great complement to this item.

If you pick this up, replace it late-game.

Ichaival

Item #3 & 4 (Order As Preferred)
Notes Your next 2 items will be The Executioner and Qin's Sais. You can purchase in the order you prefer.

The Executioner provides your base of protection reduction to enhance damage output. If you don't pick up Ichaival, or you want to provide enhanced damage function to other physical teammates, purchase this first.

Qin's Sais is the core of your DPS output, due to the damage proc from the passive. It will provide higher damage compared to The Executioner if you purchase it first, so is helpful if you're boxing the enemy 1v1. The negatives of purchasing this first include no increased damage from physical teammates, and a somewhat higher price (350 gold).

Titan's Bane (Anti-Tank): % pen brings high protection shred, helpful against the tankiest enemies and jungle objectives. Pair with an item that has attack speed.

Odysseus' Bow (Teamfight Damage): High attack speed and a passive that hits multiple nearby enemies allows for enhanced teamfight damage. Since it has 0 power or pen, it's best to pair it with an item that has those stats.

Atalanta's Bow (Utility Movement): The all-around stats aren't bad...power, high attack speed, and enhanced move speed. That move speed can be helpful if facing mobile enemies, and can also make you harder to hit while strafing and boxing. Pair with an item that has penetration.

Silverbranch Bow (Enhanced Damage): A non-meta and unique item, it provides good base stats of power, attack speed, and flat pen. With my standard build suggestions, attack speed will overcap to a degree when Viper Shot is activated. This item's passive will give you anywhere from an extra 20-40 power for the duration of that ability.

The Crusher (Enhanced Damage 2): Another item with good base stats, the passive will get good use since all 4 of Medusa's abilities deal damage. The attack speed and pen are helpful against all enemies.

Heartseeker (Enhanced Damage 3): Provides decent power and pen. To get the most out of this item's passive burst damage, you'll want to weave ability use in between a series of basic attacks. Pair with an item that has attack speed.

Bloodforge (Enhanced Survivability): Provides high power, but is chosen more to get additional lifesteal, along with a health shield when getting kills. Pair with an item that has attack speed.

Transcendence (High Power / Mana): This may seem like a weird pick, and is definitely non-meta in the 5th/6th slot. That said, even before getting stacks, it provides high power and a nice base of mana. The stacks should be very easy to get, and the mana is helpful late-game, once your build is complete and you're out for extended times. Pair with an item that provides attack speed and penetration.

Flat pen from The Crusher helps against all targets, while Titan's Bane's % pen can shred tanky enemy protections, and is also effective against jungle objectives such as the Gold Fury, Fire Giant, and Titan.

Increased mobility: ( Atalanta's Bow) now has base MS that can help against mobile enemies. The higher MS, especially at full stacks, allows you to get fairly good use of Sidewinder in a fight.

Increased survival: Additional lifesteal and a situational health shield from Bloodforge are helpful, in combination with the MS from Atalanta's, to give you tools to stay alive. The high power is nice.

Consider that this combo provides no additional penetration, so is better against mobile enemies and squishier enemy comps.

Atalanta's Bow

Bloodforge

Example Crit Build #1 (High Crit Chance)
Notes In this crit build example, Rage is rushed to help build stacks. The Executioner provides the base of protection reduction, and Deathbringer is the standard 2nd crit item.

Poisoned Star as the final item puts crit chance at 85% (which is on the high side). It brings a unique aspect to her kit, as it can really help shift damage away from her due to the passive...the high crit chance gives it basically assured immediate effect against her target.

Example Qin's Build #2 (Silverbranch Alt)
Notes This is a build variant based on ImpishCoconut's Silverbranch build. This version keeps Devo's early for the sustain, but can be skipped if preferred...in which case a later Bloodforge is the better lifesteal option.

Before replacing your Tabi with Elixir of Speed, this build gives you a base 2.3 AS for great Qin's procs, and a boost of power when Viper Shot is activated.

Late-Game / High Cost Tabi Replacement
Notes You need to have enough gold to make this worthwhile.

Elixir of Speed (only available in Conquest) provides a permanent 18% MS as a replacement to typical MS Boots. It does NOT stack with boots, so should be picked up only when you have enough gold to buy this and another full T3 item.

Functional Tabi replacements include almost any item, including protections for some survivability, Qin's Sais in a crit build for enhanced DPS, or additional lifesteal for increased sustain.

Elixir of Speed

Medusa's Skill Order

Viper Shot

1X

48111214

Acid Spray

2A

136710

Lacerate

3B

215161819

Petrify

4Y

59131720

Purchase Order

Starting Items (Hunter's Blessing / No Starter / Rush Trans If Preferred)
Notes Mage's Blessing, once evolved, provides CDR that pairs well with the CDR from Transcendence, allowing you to more freely use abilities early for poke.

With no lifesteal in Trans, you have less available slots to cover all stats.

For lifesteal, you have the option of either Asi or Bloodforge. Asi is great in the mid-game, due to the low price, but it's best to get other items online if you can afford to delay lifesteal. Bloodforge can also be chosen earlier, but the high price makes it a better late-game pickup.

Qin's as the main DPS source (compared to needing at least 2 crit items) allows the rest of your build to be flexible. It can be picked up before OR after The Executioner.

Trans-Crit Build (Lifesteal Earlier If Preferred)
Notes This build can be devastating for burst damage if you've teammates to help you lock down enemies. The high power from Trans, combined with high crit chance and burst when comboing with Viper Shot, can easily secure kills.

For lifesteal, you have the option of either Asi or Bloodforge. Asi is great in the mid-game, due to the low price, but it's best to get other items online if you can afford to delay lifesteal. Bloodforge can also be chosen earlier, but the high price makes it a better late-game pickup.

Heavenly Wings, especially with the upgrade, is very helpful for boxing or to counter enemy slows.

Late-Game / High Cost Tabi Replacement
Notes You need to have enough gold to make this worthwhile.

Elixir of Speed (only available in Conquest) provides a permanent 18% MS as a replacement to typical MS Boots. It does NOT stack with boots, so should be picked up only when you have enough gold to buy this and another full T3 item.

Functional Tabi replacements include almost any item, including protections for some survivability, Qin's Sais in a crit build for enhanced DPS, or additional lifesteal for increased sustain.

Elixir of Speed

Medusa's Skill Order

Viper Shot

1X

48111214

Acid Spray

2A

136710

Lacerate

3B

215161819

Petrify

4Y

59131720

Purchase Order

Starting Items
Notes Standard Tabi rush.

I prefer picking up a couple of early potions to allow me to stay out longer and soak up as much XP and gold as possible. It's optional.

Combat Boots

Mana Potion

Mana Potion

The Critical Viper (Basic Attack Build) (6th Item optional)
Notes This is a fairly typical crit build, focusing on very high crit chance (85%) to provide as consistent of DPS as possible. In this case, 1 v 1s aren't going to be very common, so Wind Demon is chosen over Poisoned Star for your own enhanced AS and MS.

Devourer's Gauntlet

Ninja Tabi

Rage

The Executioner

Deathbringer

Wind Demon

The Spitting Viper (Ability Build) (6th Item Optional)
Notes Yes, Soul Eater seems like a weird item in the first place, but it provides a bit of sustain, good power, and CDR to really enforce ability use.

2018/9/27-28: Guide is updated as of Patch 5.18, "Change & Choices." ADC build switched from crit to Qin's, with a variety of optional item suggestions. Special thanks to DV-8 for internal discussion and testing, and Kriega1 for feedback.

2017/6/8: Guide has been updated as of Patch 4.10, "Trials of King Hercules." Welcome back, Rage! (Its buff has jumped it ahead of Wind Demon for overall DPS, and this has been reflected in all applicable builds)

2017/4/20: The guide really didn't need much updating, but she made me do it. I don't know what the significance of this day is, but she was quite insistent. As such, guide is current as of Patch 4.7, "Pillars of Success." Added Ganesha to the synergies list.

2016/4/7: With the help of nanoyam, some adjustments have been made to format/presentation. Added Rage as an option in the basic attack build.

2016/3/30: Minor revisions. Everything is up to date as of Patch 3.5, "Protect and Support."

2016/2/2: Updated for Season 3! Nothing has changed for Medusa's ability set; however, there have been some significant changes to items that affect hunters. Builds have been revised. "Actives" -> "Relics" section revised.

With all of the item changes and new items, I'm absolutely open to hearing of anyone's ideas and possibly incorporating into or adjusting my build. Feel absolutely free to comment!!!

Duuuuude. W***suuuup? I'm Branmuffin17 (IGN Muffinman17), a SmiteFire moderator and casual SMITE player on PC and PS4. Come check out my 420th fifth major recreational venture outside of my original project, The Overarching Assault Guide. I've created this guide specifically because I was jonesing to make my first hunter guide, and I saw some potential in her, as long as I could get her off the couch.

I'll assume you know the basic gist of gameplay in the various modes, so I won't be teaching or talking much about tickets, rotating, minions, ganja, etc., except in the direct context of Medusa's dank gameplay. If you want the deets on general info, I invite you to cruise on over to my other guides:

The
Overarching
Conquest Guide

The
Overarching
Arena Guide

This is a work in progress, as it should be. Not saying anything about these being her only build options...this is just, like, my opinion, man. I'm always open to new ideas and different approaches.

Although Medusa is a Hunter whose arrows are definitely not blunt, she's a bit less reliant on basic attacks than some, and can be built with emphasis on either abilities or basic attacks.

As such, I'm offering multiple builds for various modes. My Devourer's Gauntlet builds focus on basic attack DPS and boxing as a standard ADC / Carry. My Transcendence builds can be used for either ADC or Mid roles, and focus on earlier and easier waveclear, with damage options centering either around Qin's Sais or crit items.

Medusa is a strong pick for multiple game modes. Ready to go? Let's light it up!

Abilities

Passive:

Sidewinder

No movement penalty when side-strafing, and half of the movement penalty when moving backward.

Overview: A passive that requires no direct thought, but lends itself to making Medusa a more effective hotboxer. This will not see much benefit except when building increased movespeed, such as through Wind Demon.

Overview: Her only built-in AS steroid, it adds a strong burst of damage when targeting an individual. Best to use earlier in the fight (due to ticking damage), and when you're able to confirm hits more easily (enemy is stunned from Lacerate, stoned from Petrify, or otherwise CCd from teammates' abilities).

Tip: Remember that you can trigger it early, and it won't activate until you start attacking. You can use it in the fountain for a free charge!

Chronic Viper

Skill #2:

Acid Spray

Medusa spits out acid that damages the first enemy hit, and sprays out acid in a cone behind them. It explodes on statues Medusa has created. CD 14 seconds. 70% scaling.

Max this 1st.

Overview: This is your main source of damage against minion waves, allowing you to hit the entire line if you target the front minion in a wave. Provides good poke potential, as you can hit the minions and do equal damage to enemy gods from the cone spray if they are close and trying to shield themselves from other attacks.

Tip: If you want to be safe (location-wise), if you poke the enemy at the same time you hit the minion wave, you can backpedal while basic attacking, drawing some of the minions toward you for a short time, allowing you to clear the melee minions nearer your tower.

Acid Flashbacks

Skill #3:

Lacerate

Medusa quickly slithers forward, grabbing and slashing the first enemy god she encounters. The slash leaves the enemy god reeling in pain, reducing their healing by 50% for a short time. CD 15 seconds. 80% scaling.

Max this 3rd.

Overview: Offensively, you can use this to initiate and close the gap, or to catch a damaged, fleeing enemy...and you can do this through the minion wave.

Defensively, use it as an escape, but make sure you're not being blocked by an enemy god, or you'll be stopped.

Tip: Activate Viper Shot before initiating with Lacerate. After you connect, your shots will be significantly easier to confirm, adding extra damage with Viper's poison effect.

Laced Fangs

Ultimate:

Petrify

Medusa removes her mask, delivering a powerful blast. Enemies take damage and are stunned for 2 seconds if they are looking at her. Enemies not looking at her take 75% damage and are slowed (20/25/30/35/40%) for 3 seconds. Enemies that are killed by her gaze will turn into a stone statue and remain behind. 90 second CD. 100% scaling.

Level this as it becomes available.

Overview: Devastating if you catch enemies looking at you when it hits. Somewhat mediocre otherwise. Best to use in combo with your other abilities during a teamfight for burst function, or while being chased to freeze them and make an escape.

Secondary, emergency function against anticipated CC. The charge-up makes her immune for a short time, so it can be used (with perfect timing) to counter an ult like Ares' No Escape.

Tip: If you know enemies are approaching around a corner, you can preemptively charge Petrify. If you time it correctly, you'll pop into their view just as it activates, giving them very little time to react.

Stoned

Ability Combos

Some hunters just look to get as many basic hits in as possible, especially when they pack a complete build. This Mary Jane has abilities that enhance or otherwise complement her hotboxing capability.

Her simplest combo with nothing else considered is Viper Shot activation, followed by Lacerate, and then bursting with the actual Viper Shot hits. Late-game when Viper Shot and attack speed is high (and especially with crit items), the burst potential is amazing.

In dangerous situations, you'll usually want to withhold Lacerate to use as a possible escape (or chase if the enemy is on the run). Also, Acid Spray isn't really a boxing ability that you use in combos...save it mostly for waveclear.

The Stoner Surprise

Out of combat activation
(Hopefully) Freeze them
Close distance, connect if possible
Get some quick basic attacks in via Viper Shot

Only difference here is that you Lacerate them immediately after unleashing your ult. With Petrify's range, hitting them near the max range can have them start outside of your basic attack range, so closing distance with your dash will help in that situation.

In an alternate situation, if the enemy has healing, they may use it as soon as they unfreeze...having Lacerate already on them can drastically reduce that healing's effectiveness.

With Petrify Down

Your options are much more limited when your ult isn't available. In these cases, I suggest spamming Acid Spray on the minions (and hopefully splashing the enemies). When you do anticipate an opportunity, activate Viper Shot first, then close with Lacerate. That grab will allow you to get in some quick and easily confirmed Viper Shot hits.

Conquest / Standard ADC (Build & Gameplay + Relics)

These ADC builds aim to make Medusa a strong mid-to-late-game ADC in the vein of standard Hunters. Her early game will focus mostly on waveclear and safe poke damage. Her late game is when her power comes fully online, especially when comboing with abilities, to provide huge burst potential against squishy target.

Standard Qin's Sais Build

Starting & Core Build Items (Details & Discussion)

This build provides a standard progression of items typical to Qin's-based Hunter ADC builds. It provides early lifesteal ( Devourer's Gauntlet) to help your sustain in-lane, and has a smooth power curve. At this time, this build is probably preferred over critical strike builds, as it provides very consistent and reliable damage.

Item #1: Devourer's Gauntlet takes a while to fully come online, as it requires 70 stacks, so buying it first guarantees early sustain while allowing for a smooth power curve as you transition to the mid-game.

If you are concerned about dying due to potential ganks or high enemy mobility, you can counter by getting movespeed first. In this case, you can choose your preferred Tabi before getting Devourer's Gauntlet, or you can consider the relic Heavenly Wings to help you get to safety quickly, though only if you don't see an immediate need for Purification Beads.

Item #2: Ninja Tabi is a good choice when building into Qin's. You can choose Warrior Tabi if preferred, and it will be more helpful in the early game for wave-clear.

Item #2.5 (Optional Bridge): Ichaival is a great item, especially for the cost. With the buff to Viper Shot, it gives you a great advantage as you level it up, and works very well with Ichaival's passive to give you an advantage when boxing. Replace this item late.

3rd & 4th Items (Purchase In Order Preferred): Your next 2 items will be The Executioner and Qin's Sais. You can purchase in the order you prefer.

The Executioner provides your base of protection reduction to enhance damage output. If you don't pick up Ichaival, or you want to provide enhanced damage function to other physical teammates, purchase this first.

Qin's Sais is the core of your DPS output, due to the damage proc from the passive. It will provide higher damage compared to The Executioner if you purchase it first, so is helpful if you're boxing the enemy 1v1. The negatives of purchasing this first include no increased damage from physical teammates, and a somewhat higher price (350 gold).

Items 5 & 6 (Details & Discussion)

The listed items are all functional choices in the 5th and 6th item slots. Choose situationally.

Titan's Bane (Anti-Tank): % pen brings high protection shred, helpful against the tankiest enemies and jungle objectives. Pair with an item that has attack speed.

Odysseus' Bow (Teamfight Damage): High attack speed and a passive that hits multiple nearby enemies allows for enhanced teamfight damage. Since it has 0 power or pen, it's best to pair it with an item that has those stats.

Atalanta's Bow (Utility Movement): The all-around stats aren't bad...power, high attack speed, and enhanced move speed. That move speed can be helpful if facing mobile enemies, and can also make you harder to hit while strafing and boxing. Pair with an item that has penetration.

Silverbranch Bow (Enhanced Damage): A non-meta and unique item, it provides good base stats of power, attack speed, and flat pen. With my standard build suggestions, attack speed will overcap to a degree when Viper Shot is activated. This item's passive will give you anywhere from an extra 20-40 power for the duration of that ability.

The Crusher (Enhanced Damage 2 (Hybrid)): Another item with good base stats, the passive will get good use since all 4 of Medusa's abilities deal damage. The attack speed and pen are helpful against all enemies.

Heartseeker (Enhanced Damage 3 (Burst)): Provides decent power and pen. To get the most out of this item's passive burst damage, you'll want to weave ability use in between a series of basic attacks. Pair with an item that has attack speed.

Bloodforge (Enhanced Survivability): Provides high power, but is chosen more to get additional lifesteal, along with a health shield when getting kills. Pair with an item that has attack speed.

Transcendence (High Power / Mana): This may seem like a weird pick, and is definitely non-meta in the 5th/6th slot. That said, even before getting stacks, it provides high power and a nice base of mana. The stacks should be very easy to get, and the mana is helpful late-game, once your build is complete and you're out for extended times. Pair with an item that provides attack speed and penetration.[/list]

Relics

Relic Options

*NOTE* Relics can be upgraded at a price of 500 gold.

Purification Beads

Using this removes CC effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2 seconds. 160 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 130 seconds.

First relic option.

Anti-CC. Unless you have a very strong reason to get a different relic, this should generally be your first pick. The current meta is strong on CC, so this can be a "get out of jail" card you can use every couple of minutes against a variety of abilities.

Aegis Amulet

Using this makes you invulnerable to damage for 1.5 seconds, preventing you from taking action, but allowing you to move. 180 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 150 seconds.

Using this buffs the movement speed of allies within 55 units by 20% for 5 seconds and provides immunity to slows upon activation. 140 second CD. Upgrade provides immunity to basic attack movement penalty.

First or second relic option.

Chase / Escape. Another relic that is often chosen first. Can be used offensively to chase a retreating enemy and secure a kill, or (more often) used as an escape to create distance between you and the enemy.

*NOTE* The upgrade provides the old Fatalis effect (now called "Haste"), which provides you with incredible mobility while boxing. Suggest splurging for the upgrade whenever you can afford it.

Phantom Veil

Using this allows you and allied gods within 35 units to pass through players and player-made objects for 5 seconds. 150 second CD. Upgrade increases duration to 10 seconds, and provides a 15% damage reduction buff for 5 seconds.

Second relic option.

Escape from Barriers. This is a hard counter item to abilities like Odin's Ring of Spears and Ymir's Ice Wall. Since Medusa doesn't have a leap to get out of these types of traps, it can be the difference between life and death.

Extremely useful defensive relic that may be considered first if you're facing a Support Odin.

ADC Starting Process & Early Game

Starting Process

Standard Start (w/Support): The most common start will see both the ADC and Support together in the Duo lane. In these scenarios, the object is to clear the wave as quickly as possible to gain an upper hand on the enemy, providing you with a variety of options. This will be covered immediately below.

Head to the Duo lane (1) to start with the minion wave. The enemy Duo is likely to do the same.

*Optionally*, you can head to secure your Damage Buff (2) before heading to lane, if you feel the enemy has stronger clear and you might lose the buff.

When in lane, if your wave clear is stronger than the enemies', you can try to force them under their tower. Use that pressure to get a head start on clearing the next wave, or invade their jungle to steal their Protection Reduction Buff camp (3*). Otherwise, secure your own Protection Reduction Buff camp (3) with the Support.

If you're continually outclearing the enemy, you can play more aggressively and look to consistently steal enemy buffs (3* & 4) and the Oracle Harpy camp (5) in-between waves. Be aware in the reverse situation, as you may want to contest if the enemy is trying to steal (or stay clear if they've got a clear advantage in early game damage and levels).

From this point forward, you'll mostly stay in lane in the early game, looking to farm as much as possible.

Early Gameplay Elements

Farming & The Minion Waves: The best strategy for Medusa is to whittle down each minion's health somewhat equally starting with the far minions (Archers) if the enemy provides the space. This allows you to finish the wave with Acid Spray, which can hit the enemy gods for good poke damage if they're close enough.

Lacerate (The Ground): The only lacerating you should do at this point is on the ground while heading toward your own tower. In other words, you should almost never attack with it, unless you can secure a kill safely. Save it to avoid anticipated damage or CC, or if you're getting damaged and need to retreat quickly. After use, play extra safely until it's off of CD.

Your Support: Consider which Support they are, and what abilities they have that can protect you (either via healing, CC, or threat) or help you clear the minion wave. This will partially determine how aggressive you can be in the early game. Of bigger concern is how well they can get you out of trouble, since you lack a true escape. More info below in the Support Synergies section.

The enemy ADC: Consider the wave-clear and poke capabilities of the enemy ADC. You'll mostly want to save your mana and abilities for wave-clear via Acid Spray, though you should take any opportunity to hit them with the splash damage. If they get a bit too aggressive and you feel safe enough, you might be able to force them to back early by hitting them with Lacerate + Viper Shot. More info below in the Matchups section.

The enemy Support: Since basic attacks are slow early on, your DPS is pretty low. An aggressive Support can make your life difficult, even if they don't do a lot of damage. Take care if you see them really pushing. However, they also don't have a lot of protections early on, so if they get too aggressive, a quick Lacerate + Viper Shot combo might send them running.

Missing enemies & the Oracle Harpy camp: Just be aware anytime lane enemies aren't where you expect them to be. Warn teammates when enemies are missing, and consider checking on the Oracle Harpy camp from time to time just to make sure the camp isn't being taken.

Zoning out the enemy: Keeping up the pressure in your lane, and preventing the enemy from easily walking into the jungle will really help your teammates out. Forcing them to stay defensive means you'll be pushing your lane a bit, so you'll need to be careful if you do so, but with wards and good jungle presence from your teammates, you won't have to worry as much about being ganked.

Warding: It is EVERYONE'S responsibility to Ward. Unless you're steamrolling the enemy, it's a good idea to pick it up ASAP and keep wards on the near jungle / close objectives at all times, for your own safety. Sometime after your first back, consider picking up Chalice of the Oracle, as its reasonable price and automatic refill at base are extremely convenient. (More in the Warding spoiler)

ADC Mid to Late Game

Mid-Game Dueling

Puff, Puff, Give Poke, Poke, Hissss: If you're still in-lane against the enemy ADC, your best bet is usually to continue using the minion wave to constantly poke. 1 v 1 matchups can be difficult for Medusa, as she has a very brief attack speed steroid in Viper Shot. Use it, though, as it does a good amount of damage as you level it up.

Lacerate (The Enemy): Okay, NOW you can start using this to attack. Make sure you know where your other enemies are, so you don't waste your escape only to get ganked. Try to use it only when the enemy has lost a significant portion of their health, as again, you'll likely lose an elongated boxing match.

Communication: See if you can set up a gank with a teammate. You can pretend you're a wounded snake, backing off and luring the enemy closer to your tower.

Teamfighting

Stay Back: As the ADC, remember that you can't front-line. Let your tankier friends bear the blunt brunt of the damage, while you use your AOE abilities to max effect.

Paranoid Tanks: As you transition to the late game, remember that crit damage will still do a lot of damage to a tank. If they're out in front, make them pay...don't shy away from targeting that tank, in other words. The Executioner eats up their protections when you reach full stacks. If the team is full of tanky enemies, you can consider Titan's Bane in combination, and make them forget that they're tanks.

Other Gameplay Elements

Objectives: Always push towers with teammates. You should be able to solo the Gold Fury just fine, though.

Split-Pushing: If you see an opportunity to split-push, only do so with a teammate. You don't really have an escape, so you'll want some bait protection.

Warding: Don't forget to help your team Ward. Objectives like the Gold Fury, Fire Giant, and Pyromancer now take priority.

Warding Locations

Placing 2 wards at a time is your best bet to warn you of incoming enemies from multiple locations. Below are color-coded locations for pairs of wards depending on your aggressiveness in-lane.

Early / Lane Warding

Green: Locations for safest play. Gives you a good view of the main entrances to your lane to warn you of incoming ganks, but you won't have much advance warning.

Yellow: Same offensive ward location, but the defensive ward is pushed out a bit to give you a bit earlier warning from normal enemy jungle paths However, it will not help you spot an aggressive jungler that approaches from behind, near the buff camps.

Red: This provides you with great early warning in the offensive zone when pushing your lane. It doesn't cover your backside, however, so you'll be relying on your own skill and good communication with teammates to keep you alive.

Late Game Warding

Remember, minions act as moving wards in the lanes, and are able to spot nearby gods. If your towers are down, keep your minions pushed up as much as possible to provide eyes...if they're pushed back to your towers, your priority is to defend those towers.

Green: Safe spots. To allow you to push safely in nearby lanes, these are good places to cover enemy infiltration. If you don't know where the enemy is, don't push, especially not alone. These spots provide a good balance of revealing movement on your side of the map.

Yellow: Aggressive, and very useful. If you have these warded in addition to the greens, you can almost assuredly push lanes safely. Just make sure you keep your eyes on the minimap.

Red: High Risk, High Reward. If you have these, the enemy can barely leave base without you knowing where they are. This allows you to spot people out of position, and crash down on them for a kill.

Purple: Objectives / Buffs. Just a reminder to use a Sentry Ward, especially on the Fire Giant. In the late stages of a game when builds are completed, you won't worry much about the Gold Fury.

Conquest / Standard ADC (Synergies & Matchups)

Not all common Supports are mentioned. I'm concentrating on Guardians only, as it's not usually optimal to put two physical gods together in Duo (easy to counter-build).

Ares

His abilities other than No Escape provide very little hard CC, but he's chosen for early aggression. Medusa has the waveclear to help him be aggressive, and combined, they can secure some early kills. Just be sure to be the bully, because if you try for a stalemate in lane, you're going to lose based on poor sustain between the two of you.

Synergy:Average

Artio

She has a variety of tools at her disposal, and can even provide a measure of healing to you. She only has 1 hard CC ability (a stun in bear form), and is being nerfed for Patch 4.15, so it remains to be seen how effective this pairing can be. I'll say average for now, but it could be good depending on how aggressive you like to play.

Synergy:Average

Athena

Decent wave-clear to help your early game, and she has incredible CC / peel to support your lack of a true escape. If she goes back to base after she hits level 5, she can ult back to you ASAP if you're being pressured in your lane.

With some early communication in the later parts of the match, she can Confound multiple enemies in a teamfight for a confirmed Petrify.

Synergy:GOOD!!!

Bacchus

There are some opportunities here. With his high damage potential for a Support, along with his unique CC effects (slow, stun, Intoxicate), it can help get the enemy into the danger zone, allowing you to finish them off. That said, he's a bit of a risky choice and doesn't have great wave-clearing abilities, so you'll need good communication to make things work well.

Synergy:Average

Cerberus

True synergy is yet to be seen, but although he can be pretty aggressive with some early damage potential, he doesn't have much in the way of early peel to help you if you're in trouble.

Synergy:Average

Ganesha

With a silence, a Khepri-like lane-clear ability with bonus damage, and a quick dash/knockup, he's got enough CC and enhancement in his kit to be a solid Support. None of his abilities directly stand out as perfect synergy, but considered altogether, it's a strong combination.

Synergy:Good!

Geb

He's a safe Support choice, as his Stone Shield helps get you out of bad CC situations. That said, he doesn't bring much else to the table for Medusa, as his CC abilities are weak, and so is his waveclear.

Synergy:Poor

Hel

This is a tough one. You'll get some great early sustain and wave clear assistance, which means you can be fairly aggressive. However, you'll have no peel and only a selective cleanse which requires a very aware Hel player.

Synergy:Average

Khepri

Safe wave clear, a good stun, and a pull that makes it extremely easy to hit all 3 Viper Shots. Oh, and that ult can save your scaly butt when you're too aggressive.

Synergy:GOOD!!!

Kumbhakarna

He's a CC maniac. With solid wave clear assistance to help in the early game, a long stun, and the ability to put one enemy to sleep while you focus the other, there's definite synergy to be had here. I know he's not a popular Support pick, but he can easily lock down enemies for early kills. Wish he could heal a bit!

Synergy:Good!

Kuzenbo

His Nene Kappa won't help all that much with wave clear, but can provide some amazingly effective poke. If he can get behind the enemy (or even catch them from the side) with Sumo Slam, you can combo very nicely with Lacerate. That said, his effectiveness in this way will likely come after he starts to rotate, so the early-game synergy isn't all that great.

Synergy:Average

Sobek

Eh, he's never been that appealing to me. His toss-back is nice, though, and as more of an aggressive Support, he can help secure some early kills. Have him toss the enemy back to you, use Lacerate to further lock them down, and at that point, Sobek can either push them further into your territory with a Tail Whip or use his ult to prevent them from getting away.

Synergy:Average

Sylvanus

Healing buddy? His Wisps really help your health sustain in the early going, and Verdant Growth can help keep your mana up a bit. Nature's Grasp is hard to connect, but can give you an easy triple Viper Shot hit, and his AOE basic attack is helpful for wave clear. He's just a bit too passive to get Medusa ahead in the early game.

Synergy:Average

Xing Tian

Sorry, no real synergies here, and there's a reason he's considered lower tier. His only really effective CC is his ult, which can help set up a kill or save you by throwing them away, but if you're using it for that, I sort of consider it a waste!

Synergy:Poor

Ymir

His Frost Breath is amazing to help your Viper Shot connect, and if you need to retreat, he can throw up his Ice Wall to give you a bit of separation. It's not really as much synergy as some of the other gods, though, so I'm just considering him average.

I'm only considering direct matchups between ADCs in the early/mid game, as considering Support partners makes it significantly more complex.

Remember that this is subjective / personal opinion.

Ah Muzen Cab

He has a fairly weak early game, and he'll likely need to level his Swarm to help his clear. With that down, he's not a huge threat, and he won't come online until late in the game (at which point you need to be careful!).

Early Matchup:EasyLate Matchup:Average

Anhur

He has a strong early game, but unless he can connect both Shifting Sands and Impale into a combo stun, he doesn't have anything to lock you down; keep your Lacerate handy as an escape, and you should be fine there. Should be a pretty even matchup, but you do have to be careful if his ult is up, as he can likely burst you down more quickly unless you are able to stone him.

Late game, you should outdamage him.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Easy

Apollo

A mesmerize and a better inherent steroid (though he can't activate Audacity at will) can make things situationally tough, but that poke of his in So Beautiful will likely have to supplement his weak early wave clear. This should be a pretty balanced matchup in the early game.

Late game, his DPS will be situationally higher than yours, but it should be a relatively balanced matchup.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Artemis

Although she's got some decent poke, she is a late-game carry and won't be outputting much damage until she's built some items. In the early to mid-game, this matchup shouldn't be too difficult for Medusa.

Late game, she's going to have higher DPS than you and if she catches you unaware, you'll be dead quickly. However, if you can catch her with your Petrify, you should be able to outmaneuver her (watch for Tusky), and you have abilities she doesn't have that give you an advantage.

Early Matchup:EasyLate Matchup:Average

Cernunnos

He's got a pretty nice, safe clear ability, an escape, and built in utility (including lifesteal, added damage, protection reduction, and slow). None of these are standouts early-game, so you'll likely trade waveclear abilities in a relative stalemate. As he hits level 5 and beyond, his ult will be something to be wary of, but as long as you have Purification Beads up, you should be fine.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Chiron

He's got pretty good poke abilities, but nothing to lock you down. Stay away from his poke, and go for a stalemate in-lane, as his ult can be deadly to you and help him stay alive and push lane while you respawn.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Easy

Chronos

A good Chronos can give you major problems, not only with poke, but with his inherent regeneration abilities. Just don't get hit by his slow/stun, and you should be okay.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Cupid

We have to consider his Support in this case...his Share The Love can allow his Support to be extra aggressive, as those hearts will heal the Support back up while also supplying him with extra mana. Focus him to force him to grab his own hearts, decreasing his mana sustain, and you should have less problems, but if he's got a good Support, you'll probably have some issues.

Later, he's got a nice natural steroid, and that huge AOE ult can give you problems if you're not prepared. Although he's got a lesser quantity of damaging abilities, he can still be a threat.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Freya

Her Pulse helps with her somewhat weak early clear, but you or your Support can turn the minions on her by taking one hit of splash damage, which you should be absolutely willing to do. She can be easy to poke with Acid Spray when she goes to clear the wave. Watch for when she gets Hastened Ring online, as it can give her strong boxing/chasing ability. Demonic Grip is another item that will give her some early and strong pen, making her a tough boxing partner.

As she approaches the mid-late game and has built up both items and Irradiate, she'll be much more difficult, but by then things should be turning into teamfights anyway. Stay away from 1v1s with her unless you've got a clear advantage or can surprise her with your ult.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Difficult

Hachiman

He is definitely a late-game god, with little in the way of early push potential. The biggest threat will be if you're lower on health and he has his ult, as he can pretty easily chase you down and it has great range. Could be considered easy early, but I'll keep the listing as "average" so you don't get overconfident ;)

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Hou Yi

His easy marking can be a bit of a problem, but nothing you can't handle. With good strafing speed, stay on the move to make yourself a difficult target for his Ricochet. He's got a strong escape and his wide AOE ult that slows, so it will probably be difficult to score a kill.

His ult has strong teamfight presence...and don't get caught in the jungle with him, where corridors are narrow and he can more easily multi-hit you with Ricochet.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Izanami

She's got great clear when she's able to hit the full wave with her basics, but that puts her in a position to be very easily hit by your Acid Spray. In a 1 v 1, your side-strafing abilities will make it very difficult for her to connect on all of her attacks. She's going to be an early threat with easier rotations and clear, so your main purpose should be to slow that down by keeping the pressure up.

Early Matchup:DifficultLate Matchup:Average

Jing Wei

She's got some CC with her Persistent Gust, but it can be difficult for her to connect...it's better used on the minion wave in the early game anyway. The biggest aspect to her early game is that she can leave lane, buy items, and quickly get back to lane, and you're going to find it difficult to get the upper hand on her.

She's very slippery, with 2 escape abilities, so you'll likely need help from teammates to gank her (which you should attempt, to put her behind). Stay out of the gust and focus on at least a stalemate in lane.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Neith

This will likely be a battle of abilities. She's got solid healing sustain, though, so the challenge will be staying away from her abilities, and particularly, out of range of her Broken Weave. Should be a tough matchup, but if you play smart, you can hold your own.

You'll be the bigger threat as the game progresses, and you should be able to easily out-DPS her. That said, although she loses some burst damage, she retains her stun and global ult, so she's always a threat.

Early Matchup:DifficultLate Matchup:Average

Rama

He has good wave-clearing via his Astral Strike, and a solid steroid in Pick Me Up. That said, he can cripple and slow, but lacks hard CC, so just maintain distance and focus on clearing the wave, and you should be relatively safe in the early game. Keep Lacerate as an escape if he pushes.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Skadi

Having Kaldr, The Winter Wolf is unfair...2 v 1, seriously? Save your Viper Shot for when she unleashes her dirty dog(e) on you. Early laning should be fairly easy, but 1 v 1 in the later game can be dangerous.

Early Matchup:EasyLate Matchup:Average

Sol

She's got good AOE abilities, a powerful basic attack once she's at full heat, and can Disapparate if she needs to get away, which also makes it hard for you to chase. Best if you're able to play conservative, clear your wave ASAP, and wait for teammates to join in before you engage.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Ullr

He'll have some major mana issues if he unleashes all of his abilities on you, but they'll hurt. As long as you can stay away from his flurry of attacks, you should be fine. Keep Lacerate as an escape, rather than an engage.

Early Matchup:AverageLate Matchup:Average

Xbalanque

Use the minion wave to body-block his Poison Darts, and you should be okay. If he tries to use his Bouncing Bolas to help his weak wave clear, taking one hit can help turn the minions on him. With no minions in sight, try to force him to commit to an attack, wasting his mana while you slither back to safety.

Once he gets his items online, he'll be a greater threat, but you'll be the better boxer, and should win most encounters 1 v 1.

Early Matchup:EasyLate Matchup:Average

Conquest / Mid-Lane Burst (Build & Gameplay)

Transcendence has been buffed for Season 5, and provides 10% CDR. This opens up some variety for how ability-based hunters can be played.

In the Trans-Qin's build, we're looking to create a hybrid hunter, making a build that relies on high ability burst for quick wave-clear and aggressive play. Since she doesn't have the greatest long-distance poke (without minions, at least), she'll rely on her full set of abilities to deal maximum damage, but will need to be cautious about engaging. This build can also be built in the ADC role. It's better in the mid-lane...the high power will allow Medusa to deal good objective damage, especially in comparison to mages, and the presence of Qin's Sais means she'll be a strong threat against tanky enemies.

The Trans-Crit build is a non-meta build that can be effective against a squishier team. 65% crit chance at full build will be incredibly effective with Lacerate + Viper Shot combos.

There are two issues that need to be understood with any Transcendence build.

Lifesteal comes significantly later than a Devo's build, making health sustain in-lane a challenge.

However, you make up for this with strong wave-clear and a very healthy mana pool, meaning you won't have any mana issues and can use your abilities without much fear of running out. The CDR can also be a positive factor.

Trans Qin's Build (Tank Killer)

This build focuses on high power and penetration, with strong early clear and mana sustain via Transcendence. It eventually deals consistently high damage (especially to tanks) via Qin's Sais.

Starter: Mage's Blessing is the preferred starter when focusing on abilities to help wave clear. Its bonus damage is easy to confirm on the entire minion wave, and can add additional poke damage against the enemy god, while the evolved form's CDR is very synergistic with the purpose of the build.

1st Item: Your first item should be Transcendence. It is the stronger choice for early wave clear, and being built early will help with the need to stack.

3rd Item: Your third item should generally be The Crusher. It provides enhanced damage for abilities with its passive, and also pairs well with Ninja Tabi to give you good DPS at this stage of the match.

*Note* You can choose an earlier Asi at this point if you find yourself needing lifesteal. If you do so, skip The Crusher.

Another health sustain alternative is to pick up Chalice of Healing which will tide you over until you pick up lifesteal later.

4th Item: The Executioner is necessary for any fights relying at least partially on basic attacks, and as your main pen-type item, will increase DPS against all targets.

5th Item: Qin's Sais provides a great DPS spike for basic attacks against enemy gods, turning you into a hybrid damager, and has enhanced function against gods with higher health.

6th Item: Bloodforge is a functional item at this stage, if you didn't get Asi earlier. It is also an option to be picked up earlier if sustain is desperately needed, but the high price should be considered.

Crit Build

Using Lacerate and Viper Shot in rapid succession provide Medusa with some incredible, easy-to-confirm burst, and also give her added basic-attack function, so incorporating crit items with Transcendence can be viable.

This build suffers somewhat on basic attack DPS (outside of situational Viper Shot use) until both crit items are completed in the late game. Keep this in mind, and focus on farming and objectives over 1 v 1 boxing until you're fully online.

Starter: Mage's Blessing is the preferred starter when focusing on abilities to help wave clear. Its bonus damage is easy to confirm on the entire minion wave, and can add additional poke damage against the enemy god, while the evolved form's CDR is very synergistic with the purpose of the build.

1st Item: Your first item should be Transcendence. It is the stronger choice for early wave clear, and being built early will help with the need to stack.

2nd Item: Ninja Tabi is the movement speed of choice with an end target of building into crit.

3th Item: Rage is great for providing you with incredibly high crit chance once you've gotten stacks (and is a good choice if you're able to quickly rack up kills / assists).

4th Item: The Executioner sets you up with core penetration for late game DPS via crit items. It's also important for protection shred against jungle objectives such as the Gold Fury and Fire Giant

6th Item: For lifesteal, you have the option of either Asi or Bloodforge. Asi is great in the mid-game, due to the low price, but it's best to get other items online if you can afford to delay lifesteal. Bloodforge can also be chosen earlier, but the high price makes it a better late-game pickup.

Soul Eater is helpful in the mid-game to not only provide further CDR, but also high power and reasonably early sustain through both basic attacks and abilities.

The Executioner moves you toward hybrid function, and the protection reduction stacks are helpful against jungle objectives.

Qin's Sais allows you to deal good damage with basics, and is great against tanks.

Your last item is situational:

Odysseus' Bow pairs well with Qin's Sais' passive for better basic attack DPS. It also gives you an extra element of teamfight damage, due to its chain lightning effect.

Jotunn's Wrath is a full commitment to ability spamming. You'll be able to commit to an attack more often due to a lower CD on Lacerate. You'll have Viper Shot available all the time, and can use your ult a ton.

Mid-Lane Starting Process & Early Game

Starting Process

Standard (Mid-Lane) Start: The meta is going to be developing for a while, but expected starts will likely see the Mid start by themselves in their lane.

*Optional* If the Jungler requests, you may consider helping them get an quicker start by helping clear their Speed Buff (0). Note that it spawns at ~0:25, slightly earlier than other jungle camps. Use your wave-clear ability and then head directly to lane.

Clear the first wave (1). Depending on who can clear more quickly, you can either decide, or you'll have to react to what the enemy chooses to do. First priority will normally be to contest or secure mid-harpies (2), but if they strongly beat you out and look like they might be attempting to steal the Damage Buff (3), that becomes your priority (*if your Duo-laners didn't pick it up to start*).

If you're strongly out-clearing the enemy, you can attempt to go for their Damage Buff (3*). From there, you'll mostly focus on clearing waves and poking the enemy, while watching for gank attempts.

Keep an eye on enemy location, as you'll want to protect or secure the Oracle Harpies (4) if you see an opportunity.

Early Gameplay Elements

Farming & The Minion Waves: Should be your number one priority. Clearing the wave before the enemy allows you to safely poke the other Mid-Laner, possibly forcing them to back early or hide under their tower, where they may lose some resources. Pushing them back also allows you to more easily secure mid-camps when they're up. You can also look to accompany the Jungler to hit nearby jungle camps, or clear them yourself if the Jungler is nowhere near.

Enemy Mid-Laner (the player): Try to judge the type of player they are. Are they extremely safe? Overly aggressive? If they push too far, you might try calling your Jungler for a gank attempt.

Enemy Mid-Laner (the god): Consider the matchup carefully. Do they have strong early-game presence via AOE abilities, strong poke damage, etc.? Evaluating the matchup properly can help you play with the most efficiency to avoid unnecessary damage, poke effectively, and gauge just how aggressive you can be. Remember that you have no health sustain in the early game, so you need to be extra careful about taking damage, as you don't want to be forced to back often.

The Oracle Harpy camp: Keep an eye on the Duo side jungle, specifically for the Oracle Harpy camp. The vision it grants if you can clear it is quite helpful. If your Jungler and/or Support are roaming a bit, you may help them try to steal both minions, especially if your team gets an early kill and has a temporary numbers advantage.

Zoning out the enemy: Keeping up the pressure in your lane, and preventing the enemy from easily walking into the jungle will really help your teammates out. Forcing them to stay defensive means you'll be pushing your lane a bit, so you'll need to be careful if you do so, but with wards and good jungle presence from your teammates, you won't have to worry as much about being ganked.

Warding: Since both Junglers have to rotate through the Mid-Lane quite a bit, warding is a necessity for survival. More wards near the mid-camps and the lanes leading to the Mid-Lane can mean the difference between life and death. Dying early in the game makes it an uphill battle throughout the rest of the match. Consider getting Chalice of the Oracle for a reasonable 400 gold, as it will provide you with a refill on Wards every time you back. (More in the Warding spoiler below)

Backing: Unless you're hurt too much, try to back only when both the mid-camps and minion waves have been cleared recently and you have enough gold for a full item. You want to prevent any opportunities for the enemy to push your lane, so if needed, let your teammates know you're backing so either the Support or Jungler can fill in while you're away.

Mid to Late Game

Teamfighting

Where all other roles have variable functions (roaming, split-pushing, etc.), a teamfight usually revolves around the Mid-Laner.

Use Protection: Wherever you go, you should always make sure a teammate (preferably a tank) is close. By yourself, you are extremely vulnerable to ganks by the enemy Jungler, or even the Solo-Laner, if they have a strong late game.

Aim Your Gun: As a Mid-Laner, you should treat a teamfight as "survival of the fittest." Although the enemy Support may be closer to you, your target should be the enemy squishies, while you allow your own Support to protect you from front-line damage. You should always let your tanks protect you while you hide in the backline.

Tag-Team CC: The easiest way to set up a kill is to daisy-chain CC effects. If Athena initiates with Confound, it's a perfect setup for you to Petrify them. Of course, CC is subject to diminishing returns, and you can read more about it HERE (see at the bottom).

Other Elements

Objectives: In force, you should always be looking to push objectives with your teammates. When it comes to the Oracle Harpies, Gold Fury, Portal Demon or Fire Giant, make sure you save your burst abilities for when they are at low health, as you don't want to give your enemies a chance to steal them.

Warding: Even if your teammates are warding the jungle, it won't hurt for you to drop a couple down to increase your vision. Early warning of attempted ganks will save your life. Don't skimp unless you're steamrolling the enemy and constantly pushing them back...even then, it never hurts to be safe.

Warding Locations

Wards are suggested in pairs based on color. You can mix and match as you prefer, but these locations are your best bet depending on how you're playing your lane.

Early / Lane Warding

Green: Safe as long as you're not pushing your lane, giving vision of the entrances to your lane so you can see incoming ganks. Best if you are playing conservatively and are looking for an early stalemate.

Yellow: Slightly more risky from the Duo side, since the enemy can approach from around the Damage Buff without being spotted. However, you gain a better view of the left harpy camp and earlier warning of enemies incoming from that side.

Red: Risky, and most effective if you've got support or are pushing your lane hard.

Per Estidien: You can also placing a ward directly in front of the enemy tower, which can give you a lot of information if you keep an eye on the mini-map. If they are sitting on the ward in mid, you know where they are. If their icons push further into the lane, you can assume they are pushing. If they go towards the right or left jungles you can make early calls on "Be Carefuls" or "Enemy Incoming" or you can assume they are doing their buff camps. If their icons move backwards towards their tower you can generally assume that they are going to one of the back pathways into the jungle, likely to clear camps.[/list]

Late Game Warding

Remember, minions act as moving wards in the lanes, and are able to spot nearby gods. If your towers are down, keep your minions pushed up as much as possible to provide eyes...if they're pushed back to your towers, your priority is to defend those towers.

Green: Safe spots. To allow you to push safely in nearby lanes, these are good places to cover enemy infiltration. If you don't know where the enemy is, don't push, especially not alone. These spots provide a good balance of revealing movement on your side of the map.

Yellow: Aggressive, and very useful. If you have these warded in addition to the greens, you can almost assuredly push lanes safely. Just make sure you keep your eyes on the minimap.

Red: High Risk, High Reward. If you have these, the enemy can barely leave base without you knowing where they are. This allows you to spot people out of position, and crash down on them for a kill.

Purple: Objectives / Buffs. Just a reminder to use a Sentry Ward, especially on the Fire Giant. In the late stages of a game when builds are completed, you won't worry much about the Gold Fury.

Arena Builds & Gameplay

In an Arena setting, you don't have to worry about winning lane, taking down objectives, etc. As such, builds that might otherwise be considered out-of-order or unconventional can work, if you play to the build's strengths.

The Critical Viper (Basic-Attack Build)

The Critical Viper (Details & Discussion)

This build is very similar to a standard ADC crit build.

Devourer's Gauntlet, even with multiple teammates, should be fairly easy to stack, and is helpful for both the power and lifesteal/sustain. It's chosen over other lifesteal items due to price (significantly cheaper than Bloodforge) and power ( Asi has 0 power).

3x crit including Rage may seem like overkill, but if you use Viper Shot a lot (which you should), your burst DPS will be incredibly consistent.

The Spitting Viper (Ability Build)

The Spitting Viper (Details & Discussion)

This build aims to make Medusa a teamfight hunter, rather than a 1 v 1er. Although somewhat situational, her kit has a good amount of control and easy poke, so spamming her abilities can be very effective.

Early item emphasis concentrates on CDR to spam said abilities. The 5th and 6th items are optional. Ninja Tabi is suggested over Warrior Tabi because the build provides plenty of power, and the attack speed will be appreciated to get greater speed out of Viper Shot.

Pen of some type is strongly suggested, so you can finish a true ability build with The Crusher and Titan's Bane for maximum ability damage.

An alternative would be to build in some basic attack damage for a bit more hybrid function. The Executioner and Qin's Sais are probably the best combo in that situation.

Game Start & First Waves

Jungle Camps/Early Game

Before you even set...foot?...outside of your base, activate Viper Shot. Since it doesn't have a time limit, you'll leave with full mana and a good damage boost for the first jungle camp.

(Applies to Arena only) Attack all 3 camps. If you bought a mana potion, feel free to use abilities. Use the pre-loaded Viper Shot for the first camp, Acid Spray for the second, and finish with Viper Shot again for the 3rd. With a strong burst mage in your group, take the Attack Speed buff. Otherwise, try for the Damage buff.

Slither to the center of the arena, and concentrate mostly on staying out of harm's way while attacking the minion wave. Use Acid Spray on the front minion to hit all 6 minions, or, if enemies are close enough, angle yourself to hit the minions first and catch enemy gods with the spray. Viper Shot isn't going to give you a huge damage boost right now, so save your mana solely for Acid Spray, or Lacerate as an escape.

As always, try to stay out as long as you can before you go back to base. If you bought potions, use them, as a Mana Potion can give you two extra shots of the spray.

Remember that hunters have a weak early game. Build up your XP and gold as much as possible.

This is basically your standard ADC build. Your main weapon is your basic attack, and as such it's highly item dependent. You'll need to pick and choose your battles, along with timely ability usage, until you've gotten at least Rage online. At that point, your DPS jumps significantly, and you can play more aggressively.

The Spitting Viper build:

Your main focus here, once you've got your CDR items, is to start spamming your abilities and cause disruption wherever possible. Your ult will be up every 54 seconds at full CDR, so it's okay even if you use it to secure just one kill.

Late-Game

Kick Them Out Of This Joint!

Basic Attack Blitz:

With a full build, you're a one-snake wrecking machine. Don't overextend, as you're always going to be squishy, but you can engage with confidence. With the crit build in particular, you're perfect for a single target kill, and should contribute your massive damage in any teamfight.

Still, save Lacerate as an escape, unless the enemy team is retreating, then use it to close in for a kill, especially in combination with Viper Shot.

The Overarching Series

Individual God Guides

Bacchus:
An Alcoholic's Chugging Guide

Freya:
Aurora
Gory-Alis

Ganesha:
Selflessly
Gifting Kills

Shifu Guan Yu:
The Battle
Master

Loki: The Backstabbing Bastard

Medusa: Getting Everyone Stoned

Conclusion

So that's it! If you like what I've done and how I try to improve the guide, anyone is welcome to suggest a god for me to work on next...and of course, I have to own them and/or want to play them =P but I'll let you know...

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any and all comments, suggestions, etc. Feel free to add me/invite me if you want to play!

Brandon / PC IGN: Muffinman17 / PS4 IGN: Branmuffin17

p.s. No, I'm not a stoner. That's Medusa. And maybe Swagni...but seriously, I'm not (not really), so if you have any suggestions where I can put in more funny references, let me know!!! And you know this.....maaannnnnn!!!

Credits

Thanks to the following people, for comments and contributing to the improvement of this guide:

Kriega1

DV-8

boogiebass

xZerostrike

Quick Comment

Anyway, onto mid builds. For the first build, you going with Qins first over Executioner im guessing that you're relying on the other ADC to be a hunter and to get executioner first for Gold Fury/Pyromancer etc... Otherwise I strongly recommend you get executioner first. (Note: Please add objective protection removal as a reason for getting Exe first)

Second Mid build I would ideally get Rage before Executioner, Asi last isn't the best but I don't see another place for it unless you want to delay executioner. Could maybe swap Asi for Bloodforge but that depends if enemy team has thorns/nemian etc....

For the third build you may as well get executioner over titan's bane. In that case I would also swap ninja for warrior tabi.

A ADC build with crit could also be possibly listed. Either (Rage/DB/PS) and/or (PS/WD/DB).

Lastly for the 1st arena build I would get Rage before executioner and for both builds it's better to rush Devourers/Trans first item. Also would swap crusher and jotunns around for second build, especially since you went with Titan's Bane.

Alright...let's see. (Also, initial thanks for taking the time to check the update)

Transcendence late: I understand where you're coming from with the concept of Trans late. That said, I feel saying it makes "no" sense is a bit of an overstatement. Late-game, she'll be level 20. This means if the only mana she gets is from Ninja Tabi, she'll have a total of 1,034. That's not bad, but if she's out and using abilities for extended times away from the fountain, that can be depleted...so the mana Trans provides can help.

Also, upon purchase, Trans at 0 stacks with her at 20 provides 10% CDR, 300 mana, a bit of MP5, and 75 power. I wouldn't say 10% CDR (more ults, Viper Shots, and Lacerates in fights) isn't nice. Stacks are easy to get, but even with 0 stacks, it's very functional. Yes, other options (depending on what you choose 5th) bring different utility, but I just don't see how this cannot be considered. Would like to hear your thoughts.

I mostly didn't touch the mid builds in this initial update...was focusing heavily on ADC. I was also thinking Qin's for 1v1. I acknowledge that's not optimal, especially for mid, where you'll be exposed to more people, you'll be responsible more for jungle objectives, and where the jungler (often physical) will also be fighting by your side and will appreciate the Exe protection reductions. Changing Exe/Qin's order, and will add commentary on prot reduction for jungle objectives. Thanks for pointing this out.

Mid 2nd Build: Agreed on Rage before Exe. As for Asi, yeah, can again consider Bloodforge in that spot (like I did in my one Mid adjustment, in changing Asi to BF in the FIRST example build). I do talk about getting Asi earlier if needed, or optionally BF late if Asi wasn't purchased first...see how I've written that in the notes for the 1st mid build. I'll make sure that same comment is added for the 2nd notes.

Mid 3rd Build: Yeah, for the 3rd build, I can do that. I do think the current build isn't bad, but the power curve and Qin's effectiveness is a bit awkward.

Crit ADC: I can throw in a crit build just because. I did do a hard turn in switching fully over from crits to Qin's. I'll just put it up for those that want that build direction.

Builds updated for Patch 5.18. Would appreciate views and comments if you have any.

Changed base ADC build from crits to Qin's/AS/pen. It's the more common build path for her right now, and is also great against objectives.

I've separated into core items (Devo, Tabi, Ichaival (optional bridge), Exe, Qin's) and now provide several options to consider for the last 2 slots. They are all functional and bring different things to the table, though some are more niche/situational (Atalanta, Silverbranch, Trans, etc.).

The guide looks good bran. Have you actually played a game with some of these items? Or is it just theory crafting? For example, i can understand the appeal of Atlanta's bow due to medusas sidewinder. I still dont think silver branch bow is optimal.

Funny enough (and you keep writing "Atlanta's, ugh), Atalanta's Bow, in many ways, feels more important for the base 10% MS than the Sidewinder passive with stacks.

And that's a good question about playing a game with these items. No, I haven't, at least not with some of those final items.

That said, I've been doing this for so long, I feel confident that, in most cases, I know if something is going to function pretty well or not. DV-8 and I did mess around in Jungle Practice a bit to get the feel, and I will say that I do have item preferences within the options I provide.

You don't think Silver is optimal (which I can understand, and which I scoffed at HR for making that adjustment, lol), but if you take a step back, consider its stats. It's a bit less for the passive, and more that, 1 to 1 comparison, it's only got 5% less AS than Odysseus' Bow, has 20 or higher power situationally where O-Bow has none, and it has 10 flat pen. Yes, O-Bow offers some nice teamfight function, but against single targets, which one is pretty clearly better? And O-Bow is Meta.

So...of all the options, situationally I like Titan's, O-Bow, Crusher, and Silver. I like Atalanta's more situationally, HS a bit less, and it's a rare situation I'd get BF (I'd definitely consider if there wasn't any anti-heal in sight though). Trans is also nice for the stats it brings, once you've got your core items.

You can trust me or not on this, and I invite you to try out these item options, but I'm confident the stats these items provide are functional, and situationally helpful. It's about choosing the right combo for the right situation.

No no, you completely misunderstood. I do trust you. The only questionable choice was silver branch bow, which is why i asked if you played some games with it. But now that you mention it i can see it being more useful than o bow in some cases.

LOL my bad, I didn't actually mean to sound aggressive there. It was an honest statement that, if you aren't sure or have doubts, try it out yourself and see how it works for you. And people have their own preferences. In many cases, unless there are 3 tanks, I'd be unlikely to do the Exe + TB thing due to inefficiencies, while DV-8 has always liked that combo (and so do the pros).

Against squishier comps, I see the benefits of a bit of added flat pen, and Crusher isn't always the best option.

And this is the specific case I was talking about with Qin's vs. crits. That extra slot really opens things up to a variety of item possibilities. It allows you to go outside the box a bit and get a bit of extra utility out of various items.

Don't really want to add extra statement just for comparison of Silver to O-Bow. People should be able to consider the stats, which are out there and obvious, and hopefully be able to see that the base stats are pretty good. I already write so much, and spoon-feeding every reader is not my intention XD

I'm confused. Did you read the notes? I ask, because...it doesn't seem like you read it. XD

Asi is only really present in the Transcendence builds, correct? I suggest building it anytime you feel like you need the lifesteal, but it's usually present later in the example build. Personally, I love Asi as a crutch after Trans + Tabi, because I always need the health cuz I suck. But I do suggest delaying it if possible, because before you get Qin's, it will always cut into your damage output, due to not having any power.

Of all the bridge items, I feel Asi has always translated very well even into the late game. The lifesteal boost at lower health is very, very nice, as long as you're not getting completely burst by a mage or 3 enemies at once. If that happens, not much is going to save you anyway.

In some instances, I do advocate selling Asi late, at least as an option...but here, with Medusa, I like keeping it in most cases...and my notes don't ever talk about switching it out...at least as far as I know.

Why ichaival in crit build if you’re getting Rage? (Don’t you think it’s delaying for too long?) Also getting deathbringer before Executioner? Lastly, I think Exe should be built before Qins unless gold fury is down and you have enough gold on the back in which case you can get Qins, otherwise get exe for the objective shred, physical damage assisting on team, cheaper price, and the extra damage it gives to abilities if you have the stacks, unlike Qins which will only benefit autos.

Hey,first of all your guide is great,really helped me improve with Medusa a lot.Yet i have a question, (i have tested it and it doesnt seem so bad)what do you think about Soul Eater on Medusa?This would be replacing your life steal item it gives slightly less AD, more mana (if you are going for a poke or teamfight build) and the cdr is good. It's kinda like if Trancendence and Devourer's Gauntlet had a baby.

To be honest, Soul Eater has been off of my radar for hunters for a long while. I do admit that the power since its more recent buff is quite nice, and has an intriguing set of stats. I'm curious on where you feel the item fits best in a build, and the full build as a whole.

To me, SE is a big commitment to ability use (but it's weird that it's still got lifesteal, which is only applied via basics. Could I see it fit? Maybe yes, situationally...maybe more.

So, as you propose, a replacement for lifesteal, but also, Devo's + Trans, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, so maybe even to be considered as a replacement starter for either?

It's got good evolved power that's along the lines of Devo's at full stacks, but short of Trans. It's better than Trans in the point that it provides early lifesteal/sustain. I feel Devo's lifesteal is very powerful, and don't feel it's a full replacement for that, so I think maybe it works as a Trans replacement, if you decide to go that route.

Carry through the remainder of the Trans build...Tabi, Crusher, Exe, then Qin's + situational usually is my pref for a Trans-type build. With the funky ability lifesteal, I'd actually consider a second lifesteal item, perhaps. Maybe that last situational item would be Bloodforge.

More cdr AND life steal on your skills sounds decent speacially when that build has little to no sustain and since you get the stats earlier cuz its easy to stack i think it ll be goodsince its an early mid game build

If it works really well with Viper Shot, then it's got some potential. Wonder also how much health you'd actually get back on an Acid Spray on a wave. I need to test these things out first before I can offer more feedback.

I agree CDR and lifesteal on skills is nice, but for Medusa, the biggest negative that I see here is that normally engagements will be only a single flurry of abilities, and then a disengage. Unless you dedicate another spot for more CDR somewhere, then 10% (via Trans OR SE) is just not enough to give her abilities the potential for more than one use (other than possibly Viper Shot).

You will need either mage or specialist blessing to make up for that mana hunger really early in game, i prefer mage since it gives a bit more damage on skills which means a little bit more of health.either way we are playing with small numbers of difference so is a matter of preference and situation

trans still offers more damage but no hp sustain(you dont waste that much mana anyways) besides SE stacks really fast no matter where you are or what you are doing.Still i only think this will be viable against a late game comp, if they scale you lose so you need to get that early lead,without sustain pocking somebody out of lane would be impossible.As for how much you heal id say about 100 to 150 each spit and yes it works with viper shot, each tick heals you.

I can definitely support that concept in my Arena / teamfight build =) Actually, I think I might immediately prefer it over Trans...no true stacking requirement (can just be close to the wave, don't have to last-hit) and introduces healing into the build itself, since it currently doesn't use it at all.

i dont think heart seeker is bad but id rather go hydra s lament for the cdr besides since we dont build a lot of AS early on its quite risky to look for so much basic attacks.During a team fightby the time u stacked that you probably already used all your kit and are either chassing or running.Granted if you can poke with AA (not recommended as any other adc will outtrade you and mages/assasins will burst you if they have enough chromosomes)then you can save it for next team fight and do some serious damage definitely a possibility but nothing ill lose sleep over.

thats a lot of damage but also a lot of stacking, you should pick atleast 1 utility item to get better life quality during the match AoE,defense,%damage,%pen,this takes a lot of time to go online and trans is a late game item which totally misses the point of the build.Build for early mid, do not reach late, get a lead so hard that no matter what they do they cannot make a comeback unless you and your team take a really bad TF,also getting soul eater last is not worth it becouse by that time you are better of with bloodforge OR a stacked devourer replacing trans in which case the crit build is better.

yes its easy to stack but it does not provide as much life steal as the other options, getting that little life steal so late into the game will not help when boxing trading or overall teamfighting becouse u have to take in the fact that they have almost as much items as you and they can just destroy you so might as well get life steal early to make sure that the little damage you get of counts and that the little damage they do gets at least slightly mitigated.Trans,(as shown in proplay with Medusa)is better into a qin or crit builds(i prefer devourer in this case but to each their own)to top it of you need to build trans 1ST or 2ND ASAP to get your stacks started and getting devourer right after delays your pen which will make your early game harder and getting it late will make no difference becouse their natural stat growth will take its toll (assuming they do not build armor).So you should get 1 stacking item either Soul Eater for the early game OR Devourer/Trans for late game depending on the path of your choice buying so much stacks delays the power spike and buying stacks in late game loses the point EVEN if you get the stacks AND even if you are stacking something strong like devourer/trans your slots could be more efficiently used if you time your items correctly(this is not counting if you are fed or underfed, if you are fed pretty much anything works becouse you are steamrolling them but bad itemizing could lead to a comeback,and if you are underfed just face it you are not getting those stacks in time to have an impact).Overall 2 stacks seems like a bad idea unless you are trolling or just trying to one shot some one squishy with a niche build.

i agree, but the early soul eater in this build is just for an early game lead that can turn into a snowball.If trolling more power to you if i was trolling i think i build heart seeker into malice just for the slight chance to trigger both passives at the same time

Naw, I'm pretty sucky overall. I'm 5 games into qualifiers this season (about the same as what I did last season, never completed it). I think I project to maybe middle Gold, at least based on where I was projected last season and general opinion of my play from Duotem (as long as I'm not Jungle or Solo).

I'm just one of those people that got really into builds, items, etc. Spent a lot of time learning and theorizing.

Pity, im sure that if you actually ranked you could step up your level by playing with overall better players than normal. your builds are on point and you are always up for an opionion/test/change.Thats something a lot of players in mobas ingeneral miss, game awareness,builds,matchups, are overall more important than skill.So do not look down on yourself if you push it you could get really good at it,and this in exchange will give you even more knowledge about items and situational items.Even if you have so little time to play, its like riding a bike,your legs might not be in the best state,but no matter how much time it passes you ll never forget how to right click someone to death.

I like your suggestion and encouragement. It'd be great if you're able to stick around SMITEFire =)

In the very few ranked matches I've played, every single one of them has had toxicity that's significantly higher than casual, even when we're winning. I'm fine shutting it out, but at the same time, I still prefer avoiding toxicity overall.

Also, I strongly prefer playing with friends. I play whatever everyone else wants to play, which often doesn't include Conquest (which is a bummer, I'd play Conq every game if they wanted to).

If I finish up qualifiers, I'll want to do it with a friend...so far I've played this season with Duotem and DV-8.

Hey your making it sound like its work dude!.Although toxicity is a thing,sometimes its part of the fun.Dont let some autist ruin your fun dude, and besides you can take everything witha grain of salt sometimes they are right some times they are wrong but acknowledging that and knowing why fkat out makes you a better player, just tell yourself "its ok,even if i lose, becouse ill climb and he wont" never tell yourself you suck unless its in the heat of the moment you gotta know how good you are becouse you do stuff most people dont even think about it, also PICK A ROLL dont play filler i see you scroll from ad to sup to mid a lot, dont get me wrong variety is good but you should try and master 1 or 2 roles and then take that knoledge to other lanes becouse if you dont you will be wasting time in getting good at a character or a lane instead of getting good at the game.Other than that, i also like playing with friends. Not becouse i want them to carry me or becouse comms is a think, its just that they can give me feed back and make fun of me while not being toxic actually making my loss or win much more enjoyable and while also making me aware of my mistakes,however, you should also try and play solo when you can, no matter the results,odds,toxic or not, good or bad.Just so you can put to the test everything you learn while trying to keep chill aslong as you acknowledge your mistakes (also acknowledging when you are just steam rolling them is great)and work on them little by little while also keeping high selfsteem and confidence you will get better.This is not a theory but a fact believe it or not,OK maybe you miss skillshots maybe you dont land every single AA but your desicion making shot calling strategy and matchups are on point THATS 4 out of 5/6, a lot of players would kill for that and no matter what the more you play you get better, i see you have been playing for a long time and have a long way to go, its just a matter of feeling like it dude.(sorry for the long *** text)

With Patch 5.5's passive adjustment to Malice, the passive seems like it will be much more reliable for general activation. That's a positive, and will be a very nice fit for Ne Zha, and should also be strong for other assassins that use crits, like Hun Batz and Serqet (but probably not Mercury).

However, I'm not fully sure on a god like Medusa (or Neith for that matter), but let's discuss.

For Medusa in a Devourer's Gauntlet build, I don't like the high cost of Malice as a first crit item (followed by Deathbringer). With Devo's, it's a strong commitment to focusing on basic attack DPS, so I consider DB to be a core crit item. I'd much rather get Rage as 1st crit. Also, once stacked, Rage will hold its own, DPS-wise, until DB gets online.

However, I can maybe see Malice either replacing Rage late-game, or being added as a 3rd crit item, maybe replacing The Crusher, with Wind Demon being the first crit item (trying not to drop too much attack speed). Those are a lot of substitutions though, and that's getting to be VERY expensive.

In a Transcendence build, I think I prefer the Qin's Sais pathway for better overall build flexibility, instead of being required to dedicate 2 spots for crits. That said, I could see getting Malice in place of Rage there, though with the higher price it'll definitely either slow your power curve or you'll need to be ahead to make things smoother in transition.

As for execution, the question is, how will she be able to get the most out of that passive? In the late game in a teamfight scenario, she'll usually just toss basics (possibly with Viper Shot here and there... Acid Spray is awkward in a teamfight), and save Lacerate as an emergency escape...if her team gets the upper hand, she may choose to single out an individual enemy and go for a Lacerate -> Viper Shot combo. It's there that I think she'd get a lot of potential, especially if she'd been boxing and had already triggered a crit. Not only could she get bonus damage from Lacerate, but she could also possibly get bonus damage (and crit refreshes) from Viper Shot...once the new patch hits (or if I go into PTS), I'll have to confirm the passive translates the bonus damage appropriately to the each initial Viper hit and the additional DoT.

With a crit trigger, it also provides a crazy boost to her ult. At max rank, that 700 damage + 100% scaling (in this build, she'd have 238 power) = 938 total damage before mitigations. Give that a 35% damage increase, and she's potentially hitting for 1,266 damage, hopefully on multiple gods. That's pretty crazy. So yeah, I think that it's got good potential in that build, as long as you're using your abilities in a way to maximize damage output.

Neith

Neith is a bit different, to me. Her strengths just aren't in her basics, and I'd be personally reluctant to build crits on her. If I can theory-craft, I think an appropriate build might be something along these lines:

No lifesteal because hopefully she won't need it much, due to her built-in healing (and proper positioning and Supports doing their job). She's got a decent escape, a nice stun, and can probably just pick up Heavenly Wings as a 2nd relic. No Deathbringer because Malice seems like a good alternative for an ability-based god. Rage to increase her chances of getting a crit to activate Malice's passive. Is that reasonable?

But how best to utilize that passive? It's not going to have the multiple target burst potential of Medusa in many ways. If she can get an opportunistic placement of Broken Weave, sure she can hit a Spirit Arrow and maybe hit more than 1 target, but Unravel has a delay, and Back Flip takes her out of the action for at least a second with some additional displacement which could be an issue for landing further abilities after use. Also, her ability CDs are long.

The most compelling reason to get Malice, in my mind, would be for Neith's great scaling in all abilities...she might not get more than one passive bonus per activation, but that damage will be significant.

I think I like it potentially better on Medusa, but I'm no Neith expert (I typically avoid playing her) so I don't know for sure. Thoughts?

Basically, I was just trying to figure out if Malice could be viable or not. After thinking about it and reading your thoughts, I still don't think I like it all that much.

To be honest though, I'm not a huge fan of Crit in general right now on Hunters. I think a Qin's Sais focused build is the strongest option personally.

But in a Crit build, I could maybe see Malice doing alright for someone like Medusa or Ullr. However, you would kind of have to play around the passive in order to get value out of the item compared to Deathbringer, which would really discourage me from using it.

Great guide! Great quality and content (in classic Bran fashion). I like all of the stoner references as well, lol.

I especially like your arena build where you found a way to include Hydra's Lament. I think this is a solid item on Medusa that has some good synergies with her kit, and solves some of her Mana consumption problems.

Your other builds are solid as well. As a more experienced Medusa player, I wanted to ask you how you think a Shifter's Shield build would work on her (Shifter's being used as an alternative to a stacking item). Personally, I'm not sure if I like the idea of it or not, but I think it could be viable.

Also, when doing the ability combos, I think it is important to get some basic attack hits in beforehand as well, to ensure that stacks of things like The Executioner are applied to the target for maximum damage when unleashing the combo. Of course, this is more for 1v1 scenarios. When catching a group of enemies, jumping right into the combo is probably best.

I'd be fine with Shifter's Shield in place of Trans in my 2nd build. I never really used it for her at that one point that it became pretty popular earlier in S4, and the minor nerf makes it a bit less appealing to me. I also think you'll need to continue buying Mana Potions for a bit longer going that route, since Bluestone Pendant isn't quite enough MP5-wise.

Your whole approach, in fact, should probably change if you go Shifter's. Yes, it provides a somewhat similar boost in power, so think about the differences. Lots of mana from Trans means use abilities as much as possible when they're up. Means extremely quick camp / minion clear between Acid Spray and Viper Shot. Protections from Shifter's means a higher focus on boxing, with the hopes that between basics and abilities, you'll come out ahead in a 1 v 1 (or survive a gank attempt) against someone without protections. Note also that your main lane enemy should probably be physical (and enemy comp should have 3 phys), since Shifter's has a slight edge on phys protections.

Yes, you're right, basics anytime will always help damage overall with Exe, and can help with overall DPS when comboing. As the late-game comes, though, it'll probably be more about quick burst on squishies, meaning loading Viper Shot beforehand so it's ready to burst as soon as you Lacerate someone, etc. I should look to see if I can fit talking about basic attacking more somewhere in the combo section...might not if it doesn't flow, but it's a good point.

Is Ichaival actually worth it on hunters as a third item instead of second? Because Dynasty Plate Helm (the bridge item for mages) is only really effective as a second item. Or is this dependent on the game mode?

I think Ichaival is actually pretty relevant until late-game. And when building Devo's 2nd, she really starts wanting attack speed at that point, and she'll need to be stacking anyway, so the situation fits, I think, for that boxing effectiveness.

Granted, others argue that it should be built 2nd, before Devo's. I think both are fine, with different advantages for both.

1) Ichaival is a second slot item. Its more dps than lifesteal 2nd and also outtrades. If you are going to rush devos, which is totally fine, then dont go into ich period. At that point the early game is over, and youd be better off with exe 3rd.

2) Qin's build is just not as good as crit right now. Less dps late game, roughly the same dps mid game, less lifesteal because asi, and qins doesnt apply to fire giant or gold fury. Devos is a must right now, and devos works best with crit.

3) Triple crit is never a good idea, youre always better off with two crit and more pen. That and no lifesteal in build 3? Bran cmon...

Overall the rest of the guide is fine and over detailed as usual. Only the builds need changing. A general build I'd recommend would be:

Boots (preference), ich, devos, exe, wd, db

If you want that early game aggression, or you are behind and cant rush devos.

Understood and generally agreed, but want further discussion on this. Honestly, I'm torn, it's hard to display options at the top. Ichaival, although a good early boxing item, could still be a good 3rd item situationally, right? In the writeup in the body, I do mention that if you're facing a particularly squishy team, you can delay The Executioner until later...what if I went straight from Ich to the crit items in those cases? Still better, you think, to just skip Ich altogether and just get Exe? I like the Ich option for the cheaper price and slightly higher attack speed...and I DO prefer Devo's 2nd, just to clarify that. To me, it feels delaying Devo's past 2nd isn't that good. I think Duotem agrees...I got a lot of feedback from him at the start of S4 on these builds.

Further to your 2nd build suggestion, you really like Hastened Fatalis in the 4th slot? I mean...I do too, but I'd have figured you'd be one of those players against using Fatalis.

My preference is absolutely the Devo's/crit build, but I offer the Transcendence/ Qin's Sais unicorn build as an option...hence why Devo's is build #1. That said, if played mid, the Trans build just feels like a much stronger wave-clear build, and doing that makes her feel more like a mage. I also watched pro builds for S4, and people like BaRRa still seemed to prefer the Bluestone/Trans builds...hence why I included it. For those that just always prefer Trans, I figured offering them a solid build would be better than not offering them any.

For the non-Conq build #3, I was mostly thinking Arena since the fountain is close...thinking that getting lifesteal would delay her output, so burst and back off was my idea there. Asi has no power, and combined with Fatalis isn't a great option for her damage. Bloodforge is expensive. Devourer's Gauntlet is stacking, which isn't necessarily a great option in a teamfight mode. See where my thought process was going there?

Granted, it was also created during Patch 4.1, when Poisoned Star and Wind Demon were cheaper...was a great way to get some early crit for cheap. Honestly haven't given it much thought since then, nerfs included. I do need to update. Suggestions on a good arena build?

Also will clarify that in Clash/Joust, I do actually just default to one of the two standard builds rather than the 3rd build. Only in Arena would I potentially use that build...but not any longer with the nerfs.

1) Even with 15% lifesteal, ich still outtrades devos at level 10. If you are behind, and the enemy went devos, ich is a good option for you to get back in the fight and avenge yourself. Its been like this in duel, and its been like this in conquest forever. The reason why people get devos second is either a. they are ahead and want to hit the late game faster or b. they dont plan on fighting in lane and play like a puss building stacks and not boxing in lane (aka barraccudda lol).

Once you are item three, people are generally level 14. Meaning everyone has more than 30 phys prot, even the squishies. 10 pen is 33% of 30. If everyone has 40+ prot, then exe immediately does more than 10 flat pen. Not to mention you get the 25 power on your first auto, instead of 0 then 10 then 20 then 30 from ich.

Exe third is also better for gold furies. This is again, if you are ahead building for the late game.

2)Hunters 100% do NOT belong in the mid lane. Im tired of seeing it. It didnt work with Xeno's izanami who has the best clear in the game at worlds, and it doesnt work with neith or any other mage. Your clear will always be worse, you will always be single target, with no aoe, and dont do damage for 80% of the game.

I updated my zeus guide recently, and every mid hunter I saw at a diamond 5 level I destroyed. Consistent damage output is important, especially in an early game meta. Gods like Zeus and Vulcan can do 65k damage in one game with barely moving a finger, where a hunter will struggle to break 40k in a 30min+ game landing every single basic attack.

3) For arena, yes you need lifesteal, and devos is not hard to stack. I stack it fully every game I play (rushing item 2) mostly from getting kills.

4) Poison star is still trash. Even the new rage is trash except maybe on izanami.

Oh yeah, and about the fatalis thing, generally speaking no, I build fatalis last on all my hunters. Medusa is an exception because of her passive tho. Also depending on who you are fighting in arena for example, fatalis makes you almost uninhabitable by gods like thanatos or ne zha ult, which is sometimes more useful than dps. tldr it depends.

1. Ichaival can be built 2nd or 3rd item and it's going to be pretty much the highest dps for any realistic item in that second slot. Lifesteal items on the other had generally decrease your dps in exchange for the sustain. The point of Ichaival in a Devo's build is to boost your power curve to make up for Devo's poor early game in comparison. It gives you the stats to supplement the power you built and gives a 60 power swing between you and the enemy adc if you box which is still a thing at that point.

2. Qin's build and Crit builds do different things and have different power curves that you need to take into account when comparing. If we're talking about the builds as of the last split Qin's dominated top end builds even through the Spring Gauntlet. I counted rougly 39 Qin's builds, 7 Crit builds, and 5 hybrid builds among just the ADC players not counting those that played hunters in middle lane. Qin's builds often have a higher attack speed and pen base allowing you to shred tanks and towers better while providing strong consistent damage on a early power curve due to the Trans power spike or just foregoing stacking altogether. Crit builds on the other hand tend to take much longer to come online and while having better end game stats can lack proper pressure in this early game meta.

3. Triple crit is fine, you trade dps for a high crit chance and lower shots and generally time to kill on the squishies. Lifesteal isn't a necessary stat and can be overlooked if you find something you value more in the case of the third build its either the fatalis or the third crit item.

4. Delaying stacks to 3rd item, especially on Devo's which is highly reliant on stacks, for adc's is generally a bad idea because of how it delays your curve. As the later you buy it the later in the game you're still stacking and having to decide between teamfighting to be relevant and stacking to finish your investment.

5. Actually it would take you 3 auto's with executioner to build enough pen to do roughly comparable damage on the next hit as the immediate shred from the 10 flat pen. This is a relevant difference. The target would need roughly 83 protections for the first executioner stack to be comparable to 10 flat pen.

6. *Most hunters don't belong in mid lane. Neith, Chiron, and Medusa all perform fine there, and the gauntlet games show its certainly a viable strat. The common theme between these gods is fairly strong ranged ability based wave clear, safety, and decent damage on abilities. Izanami has to step in front of the wave to clear quickly with autos and while her 2 is ok it doesn't provide the same set up, escape, or poke potential of the other gods. She also lacks CC immunity or a cleanse, has an easily interruptable dash, and generally has to deal damage over time.

The Trans build power curve enables the mid adc to do damage early and while they might not outclear in the early game in most cases it doesn't mean they are bad. It's all about the team comp. If a Zues and Vulcan do 65k in a 30 minute game either your team played everything perfectly or the enemy team doesn't know any sort of counterplay. MLC with the highest average damage per game in SPL as of April 11 only had about 20600 per game.

7. New rage hasn't been fully tested, but I'm thinking a mid cost crit item that scales from 20 to 35 crit chance won't be trash. It may not be OP but it should see play in my opinion, however I'll let my adc friends work that out

Uninhabitable, lol. But hey, i wouldn't mind being like BaRRa... Thanks for the further response, lemme consider arena. I'll keep the trans with disclaimer, and I'll probably slightly adjust the main build depending. Appreciate the time you took.

SmiteFire & Smite

Smite is an online battleground between mythical gods. Players choose from a selection of gods, join session-based arena combat and use custom powers and team tactics against other players and minions. Smite is inspired by Defense of the Ancients (DotA) but instead of being above the action, the third-person camera brings you right into the combat. And, instead of clicking a map, you use WASD to move, dodge, and fight your way through the detailed graphics of SMITE's battlegrounds.